Equestria Girls: Friendship Souls

by thatguyvex

Episode 56: You're Gonna Go Far Kid

Episode 56: You’re Gonna Go Far Kid

More than a mile away from Hitsuyo Aku’s research facility two forms flew down from the sky and landed opposite each other upon the tops of forest trees. Rainbow Dash stood balanced on the uppermost branch, arms held out to her sides with sparks of dense electrical power flowing through her fists. Her eyes were glued upon her mother, while Firefly was looking back at her with an assessing glance up and down Rainbow’s body.

“Been eating well? You look healthy enough. I guess your father didn’t forget how to cook the second I left-”

A bolt of lightning streaked by Firefly’s face, making a few of her hairs stand on end. Rainbow Dash’s palm was still crackling with power, and her face was sporting a cringing look of barely contained rage.

“Quiet. We’re not here to play catch up. Either fight, or disappear again. I don’t care which.”

“Wow, harsh much?” Firefly said with a wince, stretching her arms over her head casually with a slight yawn. “Been a long night followed by a rough morning, more for you than me, kiddo. Your arm is still hurt from your scuffle with Fancy Pants. You sure you don’t want to just have a friendly mother and daughter heart-to-heart?”

“No.” Rainbow Dash said with hard iron in her tone, taking up a fighting stance as her lightning flowed around her in an eager stream.

A pleased light bloomed in Firefly’s eyes as she finished her stretch, and with a flick of her wrist summoned the long barreled energy cannon to her hand in a wash of purple light.

“Good.”

There was barely a second of silence, and only a single twitch of Firefly’s muscles serving as warning to Rainbow Dash before her mother snapped her arm up, gripping a handle along its length with her other hand, and fired the cannon. A long, blazing bolt of thick, crackling purple energy shot across the intervening space in an instant. Dash’s speed let her fly to the side in a cobalt flicker, narrowly avoiding the beam’s deadly path as it cut a burning swath through not only the tree Rainbow Dash had stood atop, but dozens of trees behind it.

Rainbow flew up, curving around in a swift arc, planning to dive bomb her mother, but Firefly was already airborne as well. Purple light flowed from the thick mechanical wings of Firefly’s armor as she matched Rainbow Dash’s speed and height as she flew in a tight circle, her cannon letting off bolt after bolt of potent energy.

The wind tore at Dash as she evaded the beams in tight, curving paths through the sky, struggling to get some altitude on Firefly, who pursued her doggedly.

Sucking in a grunting breath, Rainbow Dash raised her hands and charged an arc of lightning from her wings, returning fire at her mother with flashing bolts of her own azure power. Firefly showed off her own incredible maneuverability as with a simple shifting of her wings she instantly changed direction, flowing aside from Rainbow’s lightning bolt and then resuming her pursuit in a burst of purple light.

Seeking to match Firefly’s speed, Dash’s wings burst with expanding flares of lightning and she reversed direction, her flight taking a stark dive towards her mother while leaving prismatic trail of light in her wake. Her thunder wracked fist hammered towards Firefly’s chest. With a smooth motion her mother not only dodged the blow but also slipped inside Rainbow’s guard. In a purple flash Firefly rammed the palm of her free hand into Rainbow Dash’s chin, the strike rattling Rainbow’s head like a giant bell was ringing inside it. She lashed out almost at random with her lightning, sweeping her arms out and firing sparking arcs of power all around her, hoping to catch her mother with at least one of them.

“Tsk, tsk, kid, you’re getting sloppy already and we’ve barely begun.”

Firefly’s chiding voice came from above, and Dash looked up to see her mother barely outside of arm’s reach, literally twisting her body like a contortionist in the air to avoid some of Rainbow’s stray bolts while Firefly aimed her cannon down directly at Rainbow at near point blank range. She barely had time to cross her arms in front of her in defense before the cannon fired its deadly beam. The impact drove Rainbow Dash down like a falling brick under the torrent of energy, her arms burning with pain. When the beam petered out Dash saw that the sleeves of her outfit had been burned away and that both her arms were covered in rough burns. The pain from her already injured arm shot through her with a blazing pain, blood trickling from the now freshly opened injury.

Breathing hard, sweat dripping off her cheek, Rainbow Dash shook herself and pushed past the pain. Sharpening her senses, she looked back and forth for where her mother had gone. From a patch of clouds behind her Firefly flew up like a shark breaking through the water. Hexagonal ports opened up along the armored arms and legs of Firefly’s Fullbring, along with a larger node forming from blocks of purple light on her shoulder, and Rainbow Dash had all of a second to react before a swarm of miniature missiles were fired at her.

Biting off a curse Rainbow went into a sharp climb, the missiles trailing after her on bright violet streams of energy. Zooming about in a complex pattern, making hard right angle turns to try to throw the missiles off, Dash swooped through the clouds. The swarm of missiles stayed hot on her trail, however, and were slowly catching up, despite Dash pouring on the speed.

“Oh for the love of-” Dash grunted and threw a hand behind her, sending a trail of harsh lighting flying behind her. The bolt smashed the first missile, catching several others in the ensuing explosion, but more came on, forcing Dash to go into a sudden dive to avoid getting caught by the swarm. Diving down she suddenly saw her mother appear in front of her, with speed that was easily on par if not beyond the Flash Steps she’d seen from even Soul Reapers like Hurricane. Firefly reached to her hip and withdrew an object that she threw at Rainbow Dash. She twirled to the side to dodge it, seeing a metal rod fly by her.

Huh..? she wondered what it was for a second, before realizing it was one of her mother’s portal rods.

The rod sparked to life and opened up a portal in front of the missiles chasing Dash. She wasn’t sure why her mother had done that, until she saw her mother grin, give a mocking salute, and suddenly vanish at high speed... revealing another portal behind her that was just now activate.

“Oh fu-” Dash shouted as the missile swarm, going from one portal to the other, went from trailing behind her to flying right towards her from the front!

On instinct alone she spread her wings wide and flared out with as much lightning as she could from every part of her body. The missiles detonated in a thick curtain of explosions in front of her, the pressure wave pushing nearly knocking Dash off balance, but she maintained her hover and started looking around for where her mother had gone.

What she saw first, instead were the shining metallic forms of the twelve blade shaped drones that had detached from her mother’s wings and now surrounded her.

“Aw crapbaskets.” Rainbow Dash muttered and then threw herself into pure evasion as all twelve drones cut loose with their thin lasers of purple death.

It took all of Rainbow’s collective athletic skill, supernaturally empowered reflexes, and raw speed to keep out of the weaving web the lasers formed as they tried to pierce her. The twelve drones moved with the jerky, fast movements of wasps, tracking Dash and continuously trying to keep her surrounded as she dodged, bobbed, juked, and generally flew like an insane electrical hummingbird to stay one inch ahead of the beams seeking to skewer her out of the sky.

Taking on her mother was tough enough, but having a murderous laser light show chasing her at the same time was going to be a problem. She knew her electrical sphere attack had a wide enough area of effect that she could probably catch a fair number of the drones with it, but they were moving and firing too fast to give her the time she’d need to charge it up. That meant she’d need to take them out the hard way.

Eyes focusing on one of the drones that had strayed closer to her than any of the others she switched her course in a flash, all but vanishing from sight as she flew right towards the drone. It fired its beam, the laser grazing by Dash’s cheek, but she reached it in an eyeblink and slammed her lightning charged first right through the drone with an uppercut that split the metallic annoyance in half. She them immediately zipped towards another, slipping through a curtain of other laser blasts as the drone she’d just hit exploded behind her. Reaching the next one she brought in a backhand that smashed through the drone, sending multiple bits of it spinning off to explode as she started flying for the next one in the pack.

This drone was suddenly joined by three of its fellows, all four opening up like spinning metal flowers. They fired simultaneously, four thicker lasers that combined into one large blast. Rainbow Dash turned over in mid-air and dived, slipping under the intense beam, almost blinded by the light but keeping her eye on the four drones. It didn’t look like they could move fast while firing, and she took advantage of the fact by throwing both of her palms out and sending out a streaming river of lighting that burned through the four drones as she passed by them. Flying on, she heard the drones exploding, but didn’t dare look, because so far she may have taken down half of them but all that meant was that the other six had had time to position themselves almost perfectly around her to box her in.

There was practically no way to avoid the lasers this time, their position just right to leave no room for her to entirely avoid them... so Rainbow Dash didn’t bother. Instead she flew straight up towards one of the drones, avoiding the lasers from the others but allowing the one she was heading for to hit her. The beam pierced a hole through her larger middle wing on her right side, sending a backlash of shockingly intense pain through her, but she didn’t slow down. In a lightning blue streak she flew up into a spinning front kick, shattering the drone in front of her while completing her spin so she was facing downward.

Shouting a wordless battlecry she unleashed her lightning in a storm of raining bolts, covering an area wide enough to catch the remaining drones, the discharge so large that it seemed to affect the weather around her in the shape of gathering storm clouds. Her bright lightning pierced the drones, causing them to spark and then explode in purple showers of flames and metal shards.

Wiping her face, sweat dripping off her hand, Dash glanced around. Where had her mother gotten off t-

“Left side, kid.”

That was her only warning before Rainbow felt her mother’s armored foot impact with the side of her face. She could all but feel her face get squashed in by the blow, spit and blood flying out of her mouth as she was sent spinning away in a senseless mass. She nearly blacked out, but Rainbow growled under her breath and spread her wings. She grimaced at the pain from her damaged wing, but managed to halt and right herself, turning to face Firefly, who was looking at her in almost an identical pose and expression as she’d had at the start of the fight.

“Hmm, you’re good enough to handle the Dragoons, but your situational awareness really needs work. Tough though. You really can take a beating.” Firefly frowned at herself. “Uh, it occurs to me that as your parent I probably shouldn’t be as thrilled by that as I just sounded.”

“Why are you still talking?” Rainbow spat, lightning dancing through her hair as it rose angrily.

“I can talk to you if I want to, while also fighting. Let’s face it, you’re not at the level yet where I have to focus so much I can’t afford to talk. Besides, it’s pretty clear that your heart isn’t as in this as you’re pretending it is.”

“What’s that supposed to mean!?” Dash’s words came in a heated rush as she flew at her mother, swinging her fists in a blurring series of punches, streaks of electricity flying from her fists with each strike. Firefly slid aside from each punch like Rainbow Dash was trying to hit a shadow, her mother always an inch or two ahead of her fists.

“It means you’re not there yet, Dashie. Don’t get me wrong, you’ve gotten strong, kid. Stronger than I was at your age, and I’m not talking about all this Fullbring spiritual power crap. I’m talking about you. I knew you were something special since the day I first held you-”

“Shut up! I don’t wanna hear any of this! You’ve got no right to talk like that!” Rainbow Dash yelled from the bit of her gut, a large sphere of electrical might forming around her right fist as she threw her fastest punch yet, the air itself breaking around her arm as she struck.

Firefly’s reaction was just as fast, her left hand going to her hip to withdraw the metallic, purple blade hilt that opened up to allow the thick, dark violet energy blade to extend out and intercept Dash’s fist. Lightning sparked around the blade, Rainbow Dash’s first pressing in on the blade but unable to push past it. As Rainbow grunted and tried to push in, to try and force her first to reach her mother, Firefly looked her daughter in the eye.

“Talk like what? Like I’m proud of you? What mother wouldn’t be proud of having a daughter who’s got the strength to stick by her friends during all this craziness? Even before Soul Society stuck its fingers into your life you were kicking butt against weird magic from another world, while also pulling off lead guitar and signer of your own band. Talk about a resume of awesomeness.”

Feeling like she was going to break teeth from how hard she was grinding them together, Rainbow Dash shouted back in her mother’s face, “None of which has anything to do with you!”

An explosion of lightning flared out of her in a spherical burst, for a second forcing Firefly back. When the electricity faded Dash was struggling for breath, but kept her eyes fixed on her mother, who was smoking slightly from the massive surge of lightning but looked otherwise unharmed as she straightened her hair out.

“I never said it did, kid. Doesn’t change the fact that I’m proud of the woman I see you becoming. But that’s not the problem is it? Not now. No, if you were going to live a normal life, you’d be on the fast track to greatness. But my Dashie has gone and dived nose first into the spirit wars alongside all her friends, so fast just isn’t fast enough. We don’t need normal awesome. We need something a bit beyond that.”

“What, and you think I need your help to get there, is that it?” Rainbow Dash said, feeling an explosive cocktail of emotions boiling inside her that all but mirrored the thick, gray stormclouds that were twisting across the sky around her and Firefly now. Her anger was reaching an all-time high, making her vision blur at the edges with red, but beneath all of that was an old, old scab of emotional pain that she’d forgotten for a long time, but now was all but impossible to ignore. “I don’t need anything from you! Not your help, not your pride, not your excuses, nothing!”

Her frustration and anger was only intensified by the fact that she could feel the hot wetness of tears trying to bud in her eyes, but she clenched her eyes tightly shut to stop those tears before glaring at her mother.

“I. Don’t. Need. You.”

The words left her mouth like heavy weights, yet instead of feeling unburdened, all she felt was a tighter constriction around her heart, weighing her down. The anger wasn’t a single shade lessened. This wasn’t helped by the fact that her mother’s expression was so infuriatingly hard to read! She’d just unloaded her feelings and her mother just had this look on her face like Firefly was trying to see the hidden picture in one of those stupid 3D paintings!

“I know it must have sucked when I left, but-”

“How many times do I have to say it? I don’t want to hear your excuses!”

“Yeah, because shouting at the top of your lungs that you don’t need your mother really sets that tone, doesn’t it? You don’t need me so much you feel the need to keep saying it over and over again. Which of us are you trying to convince? Do you think I wanted to go, Rainbow Dash? You think I liked leaving you and your dad behind? Do you believe for a single goddamned instant that I’ve gone a day without thinking about you? How you’re doing in school, if you’re making any friends, what kind of passions get you out of bed each day, what kind of music are you into?”

Rainbow Dash kept shaking her head, not wanting to hear any of these words. With a wordless shout she threw a lance of lightning at Firefly, but her mother deflected the wild blue bolt with a swipe of her energy blade, sending it careening through the clouds, which themselves now shook and cried with flashes of thunder and lightning.

“Rainbow Dash, I’ve stayed away all this time because if I hadn’t, you wouldn’t have gotten to experience any of that life. School, friends, none of it. Not if I’d been there.”

“The heck does that even mean?” Dash shot back, still pooling more lightning into her hands for another attack.

Firefly’s expression finally cracked, a real sense of both pain and fear crossing her features in a wave as she shook her head. The woman took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, steadying herself. “I can’t tell you yet, Dashie. Not until I know for sure that you can handle it. Beat me, and I’ll explain it all.”

“Grr, what do you think I’ve been trying to do!?” Rainbow Dash pulled her fists back, her wings flaring up again with humming arcs of power. Blood dripped in crimson droplets from her wounded arm, and her equally injured wing kept tormenting her with blinding pain, but she shoved it all aside to focus upon the image of her mother. Her power properly charged up, her fists both turned into incandescent spheres of barely contained power, Dash charged at her mother. Her speed was such that she all but outran her own lightning, just a flashing line of pure blue that slammed headlong into Firefly.

Both her fists hit Firefly’s chest at the same time.

”Lightning Fist Flash!”

Discharging both fists at once, she saw nothing but a brilliant flash of white and blue light and for a moment couldn’t feel anything, not even her own pain as a echoing crack of sound nearly deafened her. The bolt of raw lightning flew off into the distance, dozens of smaller bolts flying from it in jagged lances as it went. When her vision cleared and her other senses recovered, Rainbow Dash blinked once, then twice in deflated astonishment.

Firefly had taken the blow without so much as moving an inch, and while there was a cracked scorch mark on her armor, she was otherwise unharmed.

“Rainbow Dash, I’m sorry... but you can’t win. Not like this.”

The impact of Firefly’s sword hilt into Rainbow’s sternum blasted the breath right out of Dash and left her sitting there in a limp, stunned state. Her mother pushed her off the hilt of her sword, then put the weapon away, grabbing Dash by the arm before she could fall. Rainbow hung there, struggling to remember how to breathe, while Firefly spoke on in a sad, yet soft tone.

“I think I understand now what’s holding you back. It really is my fault. Heh... Sweet Cider was right, I suck at being a mom. She was always way better at the parent thing than I was. Guess that’s why she had so many kids, while I quit at one. Knew from the start, much as I loved you, much as I wanted to hold onto you, I was never going to be what you needed me to be. Stupid to think I could just waltz back into your life and be the cool mentor type. Starlight said I ought to try, since we wouldn’t likely get another chance before... everything goes down.”

When Rainbow Dash managed to get herself breathing again and her eyes focused on her mother, Firefly let go and allowed Dash to back up a few meters, hovering weakly in the air.

“D-don’t talk like... we’re not done...” Rainbow Dash said, coughing. “We totally aren’t.”

“I don’t see how else this is going to work, Dashie.” Firefly said, turning around as if she was about to fly off. “We’re almost out of time. By now Starlight’s probably got the Crossgate active, and if my senses are accurate Chrysalis is still playing around with those two Captains. I thought I could help you get to where you needed to be, but all I’m doing is holding you back.”

“I don’t understand! Holding me back from what!?”

Firefly glanced back at her, holding up a hand and putting two fingers up. “I figure there’s two kinds of loyalty in this world. The kind that’s made from obligations, and the kind that’s made from freedom. The obligations are like chains. They bind you to the thing you’re trying to be loyal to, keeping you tied to it so you can’t escape. They’re heavy, those bonds. They can be strong, but they weigh you down, too. Sometimes they pull on you so tight you can’t even breathe.”

She looked at Rainbow Dash with a heavy stare. “I think that’s the kind of loyalty you have.”

Taken aback, Rainbow looked at her mother with confused eyes. “Uhhhh, what? My loyalty is all... chainy? Okay, mom, I know we’re in the middle of a serious fight and heavy emotional stuff, but are you high?”

A annoyed vein popped out on Firefly’s forehead as she said, “No. Well, like, not lately. Not since I last hanged with Cloudy, anyway.”

“Wait, Pinkie Pie’s mom?”

“Oh yeah, she was waaaay into that stuff back in the day. I mean, she mellowed out after she started having kids, but she introduced me to... well nevermind, not important right now. I was trying to be all philosophical here and you’re not listening. Your loyalty is totally the chain based obligation type. I mean think about it, why are you so dang loyal to your friends?”

Rainbow Dash snorted, crossing her arms, or at least trying to, but the pain in her wounded one made it hard to manage the stance. “Pfft, because they’re my friends. Duh. I’ll always have their backs! Its got nothing to do with obligation! There’s no chains between us.”

“Except that the whole reason you’re so focused on staying loyal to them is because of what I did.” Firefly said, her own voice carrying a note of surprise, as if she herself was just coming to this epiphany. “I wasn’t loyal. I abandoned you and you never knew why. So you fight that pain by being as loyal as you can be. You don’t ever want to be like the mom that ditched you.”

The words felt like slaps across the face combined with a sickening punch to the gut that made acid brew and churn in the back of Rainbow Dash’s throat. She wanted to deny what her mother was saying, but while she might not have been as honest as Applejack, even she could feel a note of truth in those words. This only added fuel to the fire, however, like shoveling a whole dump truck's worth of coal into the furnace. All that time she’d been with the girls, from how hard she’d protected Fluttershy from bullies in their childhood to sticking by the girls as the faced down the sirens and friends turned rage demon, the thought that all that loyalty was rooted in how much she... she hated her mother for leaving her.

It hurt. Both the admission to herself of just how much vitriol she’d truly been hoarding against her mother all these years, and the realization that what Firefly said was true. She had hated what her mother had done so much that she’d been desperate to never betray another person in her life like that. She’d never abandon anyone, no matter what. Only, could she call that loyalty if it was only being done out of... a sense of obligation to not be like her mother?

“No!” she shouted, in as much denial to herself as to her mother. “That’s not all there is to it! I... I’m not just doing this to get back at you. My friends mean more to me than that!”

Firefly looked at her dead on, drawing her energy blade once more and holding it up in front of her, expression at once both hesitant, hard, and even hopeful. “If you really believe that, then prove it. Not to me, but to yourself. Come at me, and show me what your loyalty is really made from.”

Rainbow Dash managed a small smirk, despite the roiling storm tearing itself through her heart. Though the energy from her wings was visibly flagging, she brought out streams of the electricity from all six of the wings sprouting from her back. The four smaller ones made from pure electricity straightened out and flowed along the edges of the larger, metallic wings in the middle. The effect was as if they’d combined into two large wings edges in a cloak of lightning, and Dash used them to speed towards her mother at breakneck speed.

Just before reaching Firefly she abruptly changed course, zipping to the left, then circling around behind to the right, faster and faster until she was surrounding her mother with such speed that it seemed Rainbow Dash was in dozens of places at once. The lightning from her wings was now forming a dense web around Firefly, being condensed tighter until it became a solid sphere of humming power. Finally Rainbow Dash flew straight up above the sphere that contained her mother, and flipped over, proceeding to dive bomb it with her fists outstretched.

This attack had no name. She’d only just now even thought of it. Use the lightning to contain her mother and restrict her movements. Make it impossible for her to use her superior speed to evade. Then hit her head on in an attempt to break those armored wings.

Even as she dove down and impacted the lightning sphere, causing it to erupt with an explosion of electricity that made the surrounding stormclouds turn white with light, there was still doubt nagging inside her. She let out a wordless cry of denial at those doubts as she pressed through the lightning, which did her no harm, and in a flashing instant saw her mother and slashed as hard as she could with her own metallic wings to try and sever the ones from her mother’s back.

There was a millisecond of time where Rainbow Dash saw her mother clearly. The electricity from the sphere’s explosion was coursing over Firefly’s body, causing a teeth clenching look of pain on her mother’s face for the first time in the fight. Yet despite that pain and the fact that the lightning was for once causing damage to Firefly’s armor, the woman still focused on Rainbow Dash, and the look in Firefly’s eyes was both hardened, and filled with a reservoir of saddened regret. Then there was a deep violet flash of energy, and pain blinded Dash.

The massive discharge of lightning faded and Rainbow Dash felt herself slowly falling past her mother, who was holding her energy sword out as if she’d just finished a strike, only Dash had never even seen the blade or her mother move. Then Firefly sighed and let the energy sword’s blade vanish and she put the empty hilt back in its side compartment on her armored hip.

“You can do it, Rainbow Dash. Even if you fall, I have to trust that you can do it. Find your wings.”

With a sound like cracking glass Rainbow Dash felt her wings break apart, the lightning spurting out from the broken ends like streams of azure blood. With nothing holding her aloft Dash started to fall, tumbling down through the storm clouds. She barely felt the wind ripping past her, however, as her body had gone numb.

I lost...?

The thought hung there in her mind, but her mother’s words echoed back as well.

Find my wings...? You just destroyed them! What am I supposed to do?

Passing through the clouds, she saw the vast forest below, rushing up to meet her. Would her mother catch her, before she hit the ground?

What kind of stupid question is that? a part of her shouted inside her head. Of course she will. She’s your mom. She loves you.

“Then why did she leave...?” Rainbow Dash whispered, a few sparks of tears gracing the air as she fell.

Duh, are you some kind of idiot or what? Pay attention! She left because she loves you! Something was seriously wrong back then, can’t you read between the lines!? Okay, maybe she should’ve said something, but maybe there’s a reason for that too. Thing is, why keep hating her so much?

“But I can’t just... fix everything...”

Who says you have to? Just let it go for now, and work on fixing the rest later. She’s your mom. You only got the one. Besides, don’t you have friends you need to get back to?

Rainbow Dash shook her head, closing her eyes as much against the wind as to just stop seeing the ground getting closer and closer. “My loyalty, is it worth anything if I just did it to not be my mom?”

Pfft, get over yourself. You think you’re the only person who ever did something because of parental baggage? It doesn’t make you a bad person, or make that loyalty to your pals any less awesome and real. They still mean something to you don’t they? You still want to help them and watch their backs, don’t you? That’s got nothing to do with mom, does it? It's your choice. You have that freedom to choose what matters to you and to stay loyal to it.

“Not chains...”

Damned straight. Not chains at all. That loyalty is who you are. That’s loyalty made out of wings.

----------

Up above Firefly was carefully watching Rainbow Dash’s descent with critical eyes. She knew she could rescue her daughter in an instant, as she’d set a few of her portal rods down there and could use one to teleport down there instantly to catch Dash before she hit the ground. But she was waiting because she sensed this could be the moment.

Fullbring revolved around the connections one made to the souls dwelling within certain objects, and the emotional strength of those ties. Yet her daughter and her friends were subtly different, drawing a connection to an aspect of that magic from the land of Equestria, combined with a part of themselves that they held dear.

She knew her daughter’s loyalty was a powerful thing, but flawed, a flaw that Dash couldn’t understand unless Firefly had been there to confront and bring it out into the open. If Rainbow Dash could overcome that...

The sky was painted with a flare of incredible blue tinted light, breaking through even the thick stormclouds and turning them luminous. The corona of that light enveloped where Rainbow Dash had been, and with a crack of thunder it seemed the stormclouds themselves swirled down in a series of tornadoes that combined in one massive pillar of thunderous storm around that point of light. Then it all burst apart with a clap of air splitting thunder, clearing much of the sky in a painfully blue haze.

For a moment Firefly didn’t see anything, yet she felt her daughter’s presence. It was like Rainbow Dash’s spirit energy was coating the whole sky.

A prismatic streak flickered by her, and she heard her daughter’s laughter like a gust of jubilant wind. She looked to see a literal rainbow cutting acrossing the sky in a twirling upward arc, and at the head of it was Rainbow Dash.

Her Fullbring had both changed, while fundamentally remaining very much the same. Her main wings had gained a good meter of wingspan, while at the same time transmuting into continuously pulsing jets of pure prismatic rainbow colored energy that were at once looked both solid and made from the incandescent distillation of colors even beyond the rainbow. To Firefly the colors were enthralling, even blinding to look at. Flanking those wings were four others, and far more familiar in nature to Firefly. Where once the four wings that were set above and below the central wings were made of electricity, now they’d become long, elegant and solid blades of metal of a gleaming but darker blue than Rainbow Dash’s skin. Despite being solid now the blade wings still thrummed and buzzed with arcs of electricity. All six wings were connected to a central, metallic chestpiece that armored Rainbow Dash’s torso, also forged from dark blue metal edged with accents of white. Most notable was a brighter, lighter blue gem about six inches across embedded in the center of the chest piece, sparking internally with lines of electricity.

With a fast, yet smoothly eased movement Dash turned her ascent into a swift dive, all but instantly reaching where Firefly watched and seeming to land on the air itself in a circular shock wave of multi-colored light. Firefly looked over her daughter appreciatively, nodding approval.

“Not as full bodied as what I’m rocking, but I can definitely see the influences. So, what’s it called? I remember from when it happened with me that you hear the name of your Fullbring when they finally become complete.”

Rainbow Dash gave off a dazzling smile and cracked her knuckles.

“Loyalty Knows No Chains.”

Firefly shared her daughter’s smile, “Hah, sounds about right.”

Rainbow Dash, despite her smile, did sigh and put on a more serious face, the nature of her spirit energy giving off a feeling of sharpening and focusing upon Firefly. “Don’t get this wrong, mom. I’m still mad as hell at you. You have a lot of explaining to do to me. Right now though I gotta get back to my friends. They need me.”

“They do, but not for fighting Starlight.” Firefly said, aiming her Ace of Sky’s rifle once more, “Now that you’ve gotten this far, there’s one last thing I need to do as your mother. Once that’s done, if there’s time, I’ll explain what I can. But you’re not leaving until then.”

Rainbow Dash tilted her head in a look that screamed teenage insolence, and proceeded to all but vanish in a burst of rainbow light. Firefly swore under her breath, feeling the shattering windforce of her daughter’s flight that she had to spread her own armored wings to stabilize herself. She had to actually exert some effort to match Rainbow Dash’s new speed, whipping out her energy blade as she parried the first blindingly fast blow, if only barely.

Adjusting to her daughter’s much quicker pace, Firefly’s visor sped a quick cascade of data across her vision and into her mind as she analyzed Dash’s new movements and calculated just how much output she had to pull out of Ace of Sky to match it. Which turned out to be a lot more than Firefly thought she’d need.

It took us months to really get all we could out of Fullbrings, back in the day. Dashie’s already this far, and she only just completed her Fullbring. Once she’s gotten used to it, she could easily blow right by me. Well, if not for Starlight’s experiments...

Now evenly matched, the pair flew across the sky in a dizzying set of curving arcs and clashing spirals, Dash’s fist glowing bright with so much energy that it seemed her skin turned translucent blue with cracking electrical power that broke out in god-like thunder from every blow she threw. Firefly’s energy blade curved and bent under each blow, even as she expertly matched to parry Rainbow Dash’s strikes. But this was no longer easy or casual blocks, but Firefly throwing all she had into keeping pace with her daughter.

No longer playing around, Firefly spread her own wings wider and all but tripled her own speed, becoming a violet streak of light. She threw out half a dozen of her portal rods, opening them up in mid air as she aimed her cannon. Firing a blast of thick purple energy into one portal she let the beam split through the other five portals, coming at Rainbow Dash from all sides.

Rainbow Dash responded by spinning around, her prismatic energy wings flaring and sending out crackling beams of rainbow energy that slammed into and countered each of Firefly’s beams. The following cacophonous detonation of power wiped out the portals, but Firefly was far from done, her wings now splitting off a new, freshly regenerated set of a dozen blade drones.

The drones zoomed in, half of them projecting thin blades of energy while the other six opened up and fired a combined blast at Rainbow Dash, tearing across the sky.

Firefly thought she saw the beam hit Dash squarely, the torrent of lavender power pushing her daughter back across the sky. Only then she saw the energy breaking around where her daughter held firm against the tide, using both hands to hold back the energy as it seemed to splay off a field of electrical power that acted as a shield. Once the energy had played out, Dash eyed the six blade spewing drones flying at her, and reached to the orb at her chest.

The orb glowed solid blue, and something emerged from inside it. A dark blue rod that looked about a foot long, until Dash grabbed hold of it and the rod extended to an easy five foot length. Then from either end of the rod the metal opened up to form cross-guards, and with a snap of power twin spear heads of solid azure lightning formed from the new weapon.

Rainbow Dash twirled the double lightning spear with eye catching speed and precision, and with only two sweeping arcs that left trails of bright blue light in the air she severed the six drones coming towards her. As the broken drones exploded, Rainbow Dash looked at the other remaining six and her eyes literally flashed with lightning around the edges of her iris.

Firefly heard a crack of thunder above her, and the sky darkened. She looked up to see stormclouds had gathered once again, only now it seemed they gathered with a purpose. As Dash raised her lightning spear to the heavens, the heavens seemed to respond, and with a roar bolts of lightning fell from the sky, impacting Firefly’s remaining drones and turning them to broken cinders.

“Broke your toys.” Rainbow Dash taunted. Firefly smirked.

“That’s okay. Got more.”

The wings on her back split in half, each one now ejecting a stream of violet particles that formed into two wings of light while the physical blades now swarmed around Firefly, twenty four in total.

“Dragoon Purge: Carnage Burst!”

The twenty four new and larger Dragoons now all pointed skyward at her mental direction, and firing off a barrage of blasts, each one as large as the beams fired by her cannon. The energy tore through the stormclouds, dispersing them in seconds. Firefly then aimed the drones at Rainbow Dash, who stood poised and ready for whatever Firefly might throw at her. The sight made Firefly grin, and feel a surge of happiness, despite the fact she knew this might be the last time she saw Rainbow Dash, even if everything went according to plan.

She just had one duty left to perform, and Dash was using up more than enough of her newly evolved Fullbring’s power to trigger it. Just one more push.

“Alright kid, let’s see what your Loyal Wings can really do!”

Rainbow Dash responded with a wily look and an expanding burst of prismatic power from her new wings. “Sure, if you can keep up enough to even see me!”

In an blink Dash became living streak of color, and Firefly flew forward on a wave of violet light to meet her daughter head on while the Dragoons swarmed around them both. Lightning spear and energy blade slashed against each other in a sparkling shower, Dash spinning her weapon in such a dizzying display that it was like she was holding a solid disc of storm wracked might as she thrust and slashed at Firefly. To outside onlookers the fight would’ve looked like a mind numbing swirl of flashing lights as the two women soared through the air, while the streaking Dragoons began to fire wide beams of raw power across the sky in a complex array.

Rainbow Dash seemed to move faster with every passing second, keeping one step ahead of Firefly’s beams while remaining on the offensive. Firefly had to devote much of her focus on keeping her daughter’s wild attacks at bay, her own wings flaring bright and brighter with lavender particles of light to keep her speed on par with Rainbow’s freshly evolved Fullbring. One thrust of of the double lightning spear cut strands of hair from her head and gave her mind a jolt at the same time, Dash following up the thrust with an almost instant back swing from the other end of the spear, clipping some of Firefly’s hip armor off. Firefly responded with an equally fast slash of her blade that scored a mark across Dash’s chest armor, then a kick that her daughter caught on the shaft of her spear. The powerful kick was still strong enough to send Dash skidding backwards, but she kept her balance far better than any other time Firefly had hit her.

However Firefly saw the first crack of red energy appearing on Dash’s armor and knew time was now shorter than ever and she had to end this now.

“Okay Dashie, enough playing around. Come at me with all you got! If you get through this next attack, I’ll call it your win!”

With a gesture she brought all of her Dragoons around her in a tightly packed formation, and held out her cannon, sparks of deep lavender power reaching from her body and wings to connect to all twenty four drones. The energy increased in intensity and brightness until she and all of the Dragoons now glowed with an internal gleam of violet light.

“Carnage Burst Full Volley!”

All of the Dragoons suddenly opened fire at once, along with Firefly firing her cannon. Both Firefly and the Dragoons started to move from spot to spot, so fast they looked as if they’d become an army in the sky, and they all cut loose with lances of destructive power, until the resulting storm of energy beams was like it was rainfall.

Rainbow Dash responded by flying right into the middle of the storm. Her central wings flashed again and again with blinding washes of many colored lights, firing beams into the storm to counter the ones coming towards her. With often inches to spare she hurled herself through the unending and hellish barrage, a streak of rainbow color so swift that a mach cone had formed around her, growing tighter around Rainbow's body with every passing second. Her doubled sided lightning spear blurred around her as she deflected energy blasts that her wings missed, and still she soared on, straight for Firefly.

And Firefly could feel it more than see it. The wild surge of power inside her daughter. The echoing cry of Hollow energy as it went wild. She knew what was coing, but Dash didn’t. None of the girls could, because she knew Discord hadn’t mentioned it. This was one of the reasons he’d asked her to come here, when he and Ditzy had been under the impression that Firefly was on their side. Honestly she wasn’t sure what side she was on, other than the one that’d help her friends the most. In that way, she and her daughter wree much the same.

You’re going to go so far, Dashie. I can only hope I can make sure there’s a world worth having you in it, and that you understand.

As Rainbow Dash broke through Firefly’s relentless barrage of blasts, she was aiming her lightning spear towards Firefly unerringly. From the look on Dash’s fast she hadn’t noticed that her Fullbring’s energy was growing rapidly erratic, the lightning and prismatic wing energy becoming jagged as Hollow power started to run rampant.

As Firefly swung her energy blade and blocked the spear, the two weapons clashing with a concussive explosion of force and sending curling fingers of lightning to rip across the sky. Firefly felt her spirit energy struggling inside her to push back her daughter’s, and saw the spear of lightning pushing through her own sword like butter melting under a laser scalpel. However just as the harsh spear of writhing blue electricity was breaking through Rainbow Dash noticed the way the rest of her power was going out of control with cracks of red light pouring from her chest piece and wings.

“What the-!? What’s going o-aaaaaaAARGH!” Rainbow Dash screamed in pain as her Fullbring started to overload.

Firefly, as calmly as she could while hearing her beloved daughter’s cry of agony, knocked aside the spear and tossed aside her cannon so she could put the palm of her hand on Rainbow Dash’s chest, right above her heart.

“Hold on baby. Momma’s got this.”

With a deep breath she pushed in the energy from her own Fullbring, wrapping around the wild core of Dash’s own and guiding the erratic surge of power. There was no containing it, per se, only guiding it. She and the girls had learned that lesson the hard way, during the days of Xcution. Sweet Cider almost hadn’t survived it. But Firefly knew what to do now.

Bursts of red power erupted from all six of Rainbow Dash’s wings and from the inside of her chest armor’s gem. Firefly used her own power to direct the torrent upwards, which rose into the sky like a writing crimson snake. Firefly held her daughter close, focusing all of her power and might on keeping the torrent safely erupting upward and away from Rainbow Dash. It must have hurt, she sure remembered it hurting from when it happened to her, but she’d had Sweet Cider doing this very same thing, guiding the flow of uncontrolled power until it ran its course.

When the energy finally did subside Rainbow Dash’s Fullbring was still there, intact, but its power had clearly faded. Firefly knew the effect was temporary and it’d recover its strength in time, but it wouldn’t overload like that again. At least she hoped it wouldn’t. These kids did have different Fullbrings, after all.

Holding her daughter at arm’s length, she brushed Dash off, saying. “You solid? I know that hurt like a bitch, but I think I managed to direct it all up and away. That was closer than I wanted to cut things, but hey, whatever works, right?”

Dash was drawing in deep, gasping breaths, still looking a tad rattled at what had just happened. Her ruby eyes blinked at Firefly and she blurtered out, “The heck was that just now!? I felt like... like I did when Ditzy was training us, about to burn up from the inside out.”

“That’s because you were, kid.” Firefly said, pointing at the cracks in Dash’s armored chest piece. “It's a lot like the overload you went through before, only if it was anything like when Ditzy trained us that overload was brought on by her unique little Hollow energy arena trick. This was different. When you complete your Fullbring, it’ll eventually overload when you first use it, and if there isn’t someone experienced with Hollow spirit particles to keep it under control you could get seriously hurt, even die from the overload. Damn near killed Sweet Cider, since she was the first one to fully evolve back then. After that she helped the rest of us deal with our own evolutions, just like I did here with you.”

Rainbow Dash looked at her hand, where she held her twin lightning spear. The energy was now more under control, the spear blades flickering weakly but without any out of control red energy. Dash’s eyes glanced sharply at Firefly then, “Is this why you wanted to fight me? To... make sure I didn’t get hurt when this happened?”

Firefly ran a hand through her head of blue hair, feeling a complicated swirl of emotions. “Part of it. I figured you’d be the first to pop your Fullbring’s full power, and while Ditzy might’ve had plans to contain this problem herself, I didn’t want to leave it to chance. Its not why I’m here, you know, ‘cause Starlight, but I figured while I was in the neighborhood I might as well make sure my little girl didn’t go and get herself blown to bits by her own power. Besides, I knew if I could get you to evolve your Fullbring, I could trust you with something.”

“With what!? Mom, you’re working for some crazy lady, you just jump back into my life out of nowhere with some big secret as to why you left, and spent the past ten minutes kicking my ass all over the place, and... and will you stop acting so casual about all of this!? I...” Rainbow Dash wiped at her face with an arm, her wings flaring with fresh energy. “I’m still so mad at you. I... I don’t hate you. I don’t. And there’s no time for me to keep yelling at you when my friends need me. So just... tell me what you need to say, then I’m going to my friends, and if I can, help then kick your friend’s butt into next week.”

Firefly let out a short, dry chuckle. “Yeah, Starlight won’t be that easy to take, and honestly kid you and your pals aren’t likely to even get a fair crack at her. She’s had this plan locked down for awhile. Discord and Ditzy might’ve called me in to spy on her, but bottom line is that I’m on her side this time around. Wish I could tell you everything, but it won’t matter soon. Only thing that really matters to me is letting you know why I had to go. You can listen, and do with the info what you will, but it won’t change whose side I’m on in this thing Starlight’s got going on.”

There was suddenly a silvery flash of light in the distance, and both Firefly and Rainbow Dash looked to see a sphere of translucent white and silvery power starting to encompass where Hitsyo Aku’s tower was. Firefly swore under her breath.

“Shit, there really isn’t any more time. Rainbow Dash, listen to me, okay? The reason I left... the reason I had to leave, and still do...”

Her daughter’s eyes flicked back and forth between the sphere of ever brightening light around where her friends were, and Firefly. After a second Rainbow Dash grit her teeth and nodded, still holding her lightning spear at the ready, but clearly willing to listen.

So Firefly took a deep breath, then told Rainbow Dash the truth.

----------

More than a mile in the opposite direction from where Firefly and Rainbow had gone for their confrontation the now dried out lake and the forest surrounding it were ablaze. A sea of fire stretched through the trees as a titanic clash of power took place in the sky above it.

One of Shinryu Taiyo’s draconic representations flew upwards while belching forth a weltering wave of plasma that evaporated what little moisture was left in the air as the unrestrained heat sought to catch a the flickering motions of Chrysalis’s black form.

”Stay still you putrid wench and feel the cleansing flames consume your corrupt soul!”

In response Chrysalis tapped a finger to her lips in mock contemplation as she continued to zip away with quick bursts of high-speed Sonido. “Hmm, you much such a tempting offer. I enjoy a bit of pain play as much as the next gal, but I really prefer to dish it out at least as much as I’m getting it. Oh, and we haven’t even established a safe word yet. How’s ‘moronic Zanpaktou’ sound to you?”

Behind Chrysalis a roaring wall of white plasma rose, spreading wings as Shinryu’s other half came at the Espada with outstretched claws. Its roar was like from the throat of a volcano, and streams of heat made the air waver as the dragon slashed at Chrysalis. The Espada’s smiling face remained cocky, but her eyes winced as she used her Arrancar Zanpaktou to intercept the flaming claws. Even with her immense spirit pressure the heat of Tenryu in close proximity still blistered her dark fingers, even as her Zanpaktou held back the claws.

“Then again, I’ve always prefered to give than to receive.” Chrysalis said with a pained hiss and a roiling aura of shadow rimmed green flowed around her blade as she slashed up with it, expanding a curved, sharp crescent of energy that tore into Shinryu’s claw. The dragon gave out a startled roar of both pain and rage, its tail swiping around like a whip. Chrysalis evaded it with a burst of Sonido, yet even then the tail of shining plasma came surprisingly close and the heat of it was intense enough to char some of her clothes even as she dodged it.

The other half of Shinryu Taiyo chased her upwards, belching forth another blinding bar of white hot plasma, which Chrysalis countered by extending a finger over the hilt of Zecora’s Zanpaktou in her left hand and firing a emerald Cero that crashed into the plasma in a swirling, combined explosion.

“Now stop being shy Celestia, Luna. You two can come play too.”

Celestia appeared above her, her right hand already outstretched while her left performed a complex set of gestures with her fore and index finger.

“As you wish. Bakudo Number Sixty Six: Shiroi Suna no Te!” (Hands of White Sand)

On either side of Celestia swirls of pearl white sands appeared in the air, forming together into two giant hands, each the size of a house. When Celestia pointed her fore and index finger at Chrysalis, the two hands of sand moved with swift speed, opening up and crashing down on the Espada like someone seeking to crush a bug.

In the same instant a rolling blanket of shadows reached up beneath the massive clump of crushing sand, and from those shadows Luna rose up, standing on the surface of the shadows and carrying the twin scythes of her Zanpaktou. Slashing with both scythes at once the pool of shadows around Luna formed identical blades, only many times larger. The shadow scythes sliced right through the ball of sand multiple times, causing it to burst apart.

Before the sand particles even dispersed both dragons of Shinryu flew up past Luna, passing on either side of her. The scorching heat was so prevalent that Luna had to raise a protective cloak of shadows to shield herself from it. The twin dragons gave out an eardrum blasting roar as they let out two jets of scalding plasma that burned through the sand, causing it to almost instantly turn to flecks of glittering glass.

And yet despite all that, Chrysalis stood where she’d been, amid the stardust glints of melting glass, and was brushing herself off. She was injured, certainly. Luna’s shadow blades had cut deep and bleeding gouges through her chest in a near perfect X-shaped pattern, showing the bone of rib cage in some places in the ragged, crimson wounds. Chunks of her flesh were scorched to blackened masses, and yet Chrysalis sucked in a breath that sounded pleased and she flashed a white toothed grin.

“Mmm, although I see you’re both such generous givers how am I going to compete? Oh, right...”

She licked her lips and stimulated her Hollow essence, letting it wash over her in a cold echo that interacted with the pain of her body like it was turning it to warm pleasure. In mere seconds the blood dripping wounds across her chest sealed up, the flesh regrowing itself in mere instants. The burns washed away like oil under a water hose, new flesh pushing away the charred pieces. In all but an eyeblink Chrysalis’s injures were simply gone.

“I’m the Espada with the greatest regenerative powers. How do I keep forgetting that? So, let’s make this more interesting.”

Using her own Zanpaktou she took the deeply curved blade’s length and ran it over her left arm. Crimson blood welled up and she let the droplets fall until several dozen globs of blood hung suspended in the air around her. “Here’s something I couldn’t do in our last encounter Celestia. Tell me if you like it.”

“I’d rather not see it at all.” Celestia said, “Tenryu, whatever she’s doing, stop her!”

”The impure one shall burn in a cauldron of eternal fire!”

The two dragons started to disgorge a rapid fire series of plasma spheres. The bright, pulsing balls of white fire surrounded Chrysalis in a dense field. The glowing blue eyes of Shinryu’s dragons both flashed at the same time, and the spheres flew inward, converging on Chrysalis. Luna, knowing what was coming, dove into her shadow for its full protection.

Chrysalis rolled her eyes, and a Garganta portal opened behind her and she simply stepped through it with her hovering field of blood droplets. The plasma spheres detonated around the portal in a expanding globe of fire that was like a miniature sun. What few trees had remained around the lakeshore turned to charcoal stumps under the pressure wave of heat until the miniature sun burned itself out in a burst of hurricane force wind.

However Chrysalis avoided any serious harm as her Garganta portal reopened a few more dozen meters up and she stepped out.

“You know it’s refreshingly terrifying how much power you have Celestia. Its intoxicating. I do so love seeing you be serious. Why not use your Bankai? Even I might not be able to regenerate from that kind of unmitigated, destructive ruin.”

Even as she spoke she placed a loving finger upon one of the floating droplets of blood, and a spark of emerald power leaped from her finger and between all of the blood droplets at once. Abruptly all the droplets started to writhe and expand, sharp and bloody productions ripping free from the growing central mass as each droplet in the span of a few seconds began to form bodies and limbs.

”Nacimiento Sanguinario.” (Sanguine Birth)

With piercing howls like knives scraping on glass each blood droplet grew into a fully formed Hollow. Each was humanoid in form, in the barest sense of the term, but with sharp angled, insectoid bodies teeming with bladed spikes and other keen protrusions meant to tear and gouge with. Long claws and fang filled maws still dripped blood from their sudden ‘birth’ as these new Hollows howled their hunger to the sky.

Chrysalis smiled and pet one with parental glee. “Go play little ones. Put on a show for mommy.”

As a wild pack the freshly created Hollows descended. Celestia looked up at them without a trace of compassion, but only a form of twisted disgust as she gestured upwards. Shinryu Taiyo both let out matching howls of rage that drowned out the pack of Hollows and both dragons rushed the pack in twin streaks of white fire. The descending Hollows responded with open maws charging crimson Cero’s, and in a wild mass the two dragons of shining plasma crashing into a barrage of blood red Cero beams.

Celestia frowned at the melee. Shinryu Taiyo’s plasma flames were burning these newly created Hollows easily enough, although each moved with speed well beyond a lesser Hollow as many evaded the lashing tails, buffeting wings, and cleaving claws of the dragons. Yet it was clear these creations were no match for the Shikai released Zanpakutou. At best the pack of Hollows would occupy the dragons for a matter of minutes at most.

Which was of course exactly why Chrysalis had created them.

She sped with an instant Sonido to appear behind Celestia, her right hand pulled back and her fingers held together to shape her hand into a knife point. Without a sound she thrust forward, trying to impale Celestia from behind.

A scythe flew up and deflected Chrysalis’s knife handed strike. The scythe spun around and like a boomerang came back to Luna’s hand even as she flew up and came at Chrysalis with not only a rolling tempest of scythe strikes, but her shroud of shadows expanded around her like an ocean wave, generating dozens of sharp tendrils that struck out to try and impale the Espada.

Chrysalis laughed in delight, working both Zecora’s and her own Zanpaktou in tandem to deflect the attacks seeking her flesh, and even then Luna was swift enough and her shadows prevalent and persistent enough that Chrysalis felt the sharp sting of cuts along her body. Yet the wounds meant little, healing between one eyeblink and the next.

“I know your Shikai well, Luna. Death by a thousand cuts is your usual tactic. You must know it won’t work with me. Come now, like your sister I have to ask, why not use your Bankai? You must have it by now. You were such a innocent little slip five hundred years ago, but now you're a big bad Captain. Surely you can do more than this? Mmm, or is the little girl from back then still tempted by my offer of showing her power and pleasures beyond her imaginings?”

“Silence your foul mouth, harlot! I hardly need Bankai to deal with you.” Luna spat back, but Chrysalis saw the flustered look in her eyes. Hah, five centuries and Luna was still susceptible. She likely remembered what Chrysalis could do once she got a taste of another’s soul. It’d been such fun to toy with Luna back then, too bad the power had a time limit and she’d need another bite of Luna’s soul to have the same influence she once did.

The shadows of Luna’s Zanpaktou doubled their speed, the blackness curving out to seek to encompass Chrysalis. She flew back, leaping away from the grasp of Tsuki no Kagetsume’s shadows. Feeling Celestia’s reiatsu behind her she turned to see the woman blocking her path out, potent blue streams of Kido energy already gathering in her fore and index finger as she thrust it out towards Chrysalis.

“Hado Number Seventy Three: Soren Sokatsui!”

The raging blue beam crashed into Chrysalis head on, not only doing damage but halting her momentum until she couldn’t escape the shadowy grasp of Luna’s Zanpaktou. Hissing both in equal parts pain and pleasure as Celestia’s Kido scorched her right arm and shoulder raw, she chuckled as she looked at the massive sphere of shadow she was now inside. Celestia stood there as well, starkly contrasted with the darkness around her. Chrysalis could feel the reiatsu from Celestia’s Zanpaktou as it devoured her swarm of children, although her little fresh born fledglings were putting up a berserker fight. Fresh borns like that had no personality or will of their own yet, just mindless drones tied to her will. And they had a useful trick, now that the last few remained fighting Shinryu Taiyo.

“I can’t remember Celestia, do your pet dragons feel pain at all?” she asked casually, licking her lips and the jagged horn on her head flashed with emerald light.

Suddenly there was the sound of massive explosions from outside the shadow as Chrysalis's five or six remaining children self-destructed, blasting the twin dragons with balls green flame. The dragon’s roared in pain, and Chrysalis laughed.

“Well, that answers that.”

Celestia winced slightly, but her voice remained strong, “That will hardly stop my Zanpaktou, and you are now trapped, Espada.”

The surrounding shadows writhed and a dripping array of giant scythe blades emerged from the sphere’s inner walls, slashing at Chrysalis as Luna’s voice rang out from the surrounding darkness. “And we shall not be allowing you to escape this time!”

Twisting about with several rapid Sonidos to avoid the slashing scythe blades of shadow, Chrysalis sighed. “Oh you don’t believe that at all. You know you can’t trap me, that’s why you haven’t used your Bankai. Either of you. Celestia fears killing you, Luna, if she uses her full power. She still sees you as weak and fragile, just like she did back then. Ah, and you’re always so afraid, so you don’t use your Bankai, because you know you can’t kill me and you don’t want me to spread word of what it can do to my fellow Espada. Five centuries and nothing has changed between you two. One still sees the other as a weak little shadow following in her shining wake, and the other still fears taking hold of anything that isn’t guaranteed.”

She held off one shadow scythe with her Arrancar Zanpaktou while kicking out with a leg to hold off another, while she held Zecora’s Zanpaktou in front of her.

“No offense, ladies, but I’m growing bored of this. Open the beholder’s eye; Kodokuna Shinjitsu.” (Solitary Truth)

Zecora’s Zanpaktou transformed in Chrysalis’s grasp. The katana flowed in a wash of silver motes of light that in their wake left a long, wide weapon that looked much like an elongated, blunt rectangle of metal. Upon that length of metal were a set of four circular mirrors, all embedded into the metal and appearing on both sides of the ‘blade’. The handle was long and wrapped in white and black striped cloth. Chrysalis held the Zanpaktou up and light reflected from the mirrors, and the Espada smiled thinly.

“There you are.”

Celestia’s eyes shot wide and she shouted, “Luna, look out!”

Before Celestia’s warning even finished Chrysalis opened her mouth wide and from her throat disgorged a wide, powerful Cero of sickly green destruction at a particular point in the shadow sphere’s wall. As the beam hit she heard Luna cry out in surprise as the woman was hit by the beam and driven back until both her and the beam broke through the shell of shadow, leaving the sphere with an open, crumbling hole in it. Luna had crossed her scythes in front of her in time to absorb much of the Cero’s deadly power, but she was sporting multiple bleeding burns across her body. Chrysalis hadn’t stopped, flying right out of the shadow sphere to swing Zecora’s Zanpaktou down hard enough that, even though Luna deflected with one scythe the blow drove Luna down into the crater that had once been the lake.

The mirrors on Kodokuna Shinjitsu flared again with light, pouring information into Chrysalis’ mind. This Shikai form revealed everything taking place around the user, no matter what manner of power tried to obscure it. Illusion, hypnosis, conventional cover, it didn’t matter. Whatever existed around the user was revealed to the Zanpaktou wielder’s mind. That’s how she knew exactly where Luna was hidden among her shadows, and it was how she now knew Celestia was charging up a most potent Kido behind her. Celestia had remained in the mouth of the hole blown in the sphere of shadows, quietly chanting the incantation of the Kido, which even as she whispered it Chrysalis still knew the words thanks to Zecora’s Zanpaktou revealing them.

“Limit of the thousand hands, respectful hands, unable to touch the darkness. Shooting hands unable to reflect the blue sky. The road the basks in the light, the wind that ignited the embers, time that gathers when both are together. There is no need to hesitate, obey my orders! Light bullets, eight bodies, nine items, book of heaven, diseased treasure, great wheel, grey fortress tower! Aim far away, scatter brightly and cleanly when fired!”

Chrysalis nearly facepalmed. Soul Reaper Kido sometimes reminded her of ad libs created by particularly stoned monks. Still, knowing that Celestia using a full incantation meant this had to be a high level Kido, Chrysalis prepared herself but turning to face the woman and drawing her own Zanpaktou’s edge across her chest, blood welling up along her flesh. As she did so a spark of bright blue power started to form around where her blood touched the air, transforming into a neon sphere that swirled with multiple twisting beams of light as it charged up.

The shadow sphere shuddered and descended like a black balloon dripping ink, flowing down towards where Luna had hit the crater of the lake below. Meanwhile Celestia remained where she stood in the air, the power of her Kido now formed into ten oval bullets of condensed reishi. Each bullet was little larger than your average sofa, but the power condensed in them was concerning even for one like Chrysalis. Luckily her own power was reaching its peak, the blue sphere forming in front of her bleeding chest glowing with transcendent light.

Both women triggered their attacks simultaneously.

“Hado Number Ninety One: Senju Koten Taiho!” (Thousand-Hand Bright Heaven Cannon)

“Gran Rey Cero.” (Royal Hollow Flash)

The bullets of pulsing pink light around Celestia all fired at once with sonic wakes of air trailing them as they converged on Chrysalis. The Espada, in turn, was all but engulfed by the neon blue aura of a wildly twisting Cero beam that fired from her bloody chest, the very fabric of space being torn in a shimmering wave through the air. Bullets and Cero collided in a simultaneous, swirling mixed aura of pink and blue that then exploded with such force that even Luna, hundreds of feet down in the lake, felt herself being crushed right back down into the ground by the pressure wave.

When the smoke cleared from the combined blast Celestia was missing large chunks of her Captains robe and clothing, her arms crossed defensively in front of her and both those arms and her legs, once marble white, now scarred with black and angry red burn marks. Half of her face was showing similarly marring burns, and right eye was sealed shut, blood trailing down her face.

Chrysalis wasn’t any better off, the explosion having detonated closer to her than to Celestia. Her left side was practically missing, with black gore sticking from an open ribcage. Zecora’s Zanpaktou fell to the ground, Chrysalis not having a hand on that side to hold it with.

“Heheheh...” Chrysalis chuckled, savoring the agony and licking burned, bleeding lips. “Always the best. I don’t know what it is about you but the pain is always somehow more savory when it's with you, Celestia. Tell me, did that explosion burst your eye, or just burn it?”

Celestia remained silent, breathing heavily as she glanced up with her remaining good eye. White flames descended as Shinryu Taiyo’s twin dragons flew down to join their wielder. One of the dragons glanced towards Celestia with a critical eye.

”You allowed this creature to injure you wielder?”

Celestia huffed out a laugh, sweat dripping down her face along with her blood. “I wouldn’t say ‘allowed’. Quickly, we must finish her before she-”

Chrysalis’ blew out a heavy, pleasured sigh as her injured body pulsed and throbbed like a living tumor, blood spraying from her broken half as organs and bone reshaped themselves in a spout of crimson rain. With wet crunching noises her arm and leg reformed, and Chrysalis stood whole once again, flexing her fresh limbs and blood soaked but uninjured skin with a few relaxing popping sounds.

“Regenerates?” Chrysalis finished for Celestia. “So sorry Celestia. I know your heart is just set on ending me, but not today, and not here.”

As if Chrysalis’ words were prophetic there was a burst of encompassing silver light in the distance, a large visible sphere of white and silver energy enshrouding the distant Hitsuyo Aku. Down on the ground Zecora’s Zanpaktou suddenly vanished, turning into a mote of raw white light that zipped towards the miles off research facility. That made Chrysalis curious, as she felt her connection to the Zanpaktou vanish inside her.

Interesting. Either Starlight decided to take the blade back, or someone severed the connection another way. Oh well, I was done with the thing anyways.

Turning to face Celestia, although keeping her senses keenly focused on Luna who remained down below, Chrysalis said, “That light is my cue to call this dance for today, I’m afraid. But don’t fret, ladies. We’ll see each other again. I do so hate leaving business or pleasure unfinished.”

Luna, having risen to her feet, growled and gestured with her scythes, sending long winding tendrils of sharp shadows rising up to try to catch Chrysalis, while at the same time Celestia’s dragons opened their blazing maws to spew forth jets of plasma. But as before Chrysalis opened a Garganta portal with simple ease, the black mouth opening in the sky behind her as she took a casual step back. She even gave a friendly final wave to the two frustrated Captains before the portal snapped closed, and the Second Espada departed the battlefield with only her mocking laughter left hanging in the air.

Author's Note:

I think someone earlier mentioned that Firefly's Fullbring was very Gundam like, and they weren't wrong. Her Fullbring was heavily inspired by the likes Mobile Suit Gundam, and Dash takes after her mother a bit in this sense too. The idea that completed Fullbrings can dangerously explode upon completion is taken from the manga, tweaked somewhat for my own purposes here.

Amid my writing for this chapter the always awesome Feather Book did a sketch of Firefly and Dash that I thought was pretty cool, check it out:

Isn't mother/daughter bonding such a beautiful thing?

Anyway I hope you folks are having fun reading along and as always thank you for taking the time to check out my story. I highly appreciate any comments, questions, or critiques you fine folks want to leave me. 'Till next time!

Comments

[DDDDDDDDD23]

They do know that they can never get along with this starlight.
Zanpacto and shinigami are partners and most of the time friends.
Starlight's zanpacto steals and seals zanpacto spirits.
This means that her power is breaking friendships.

[Thought Prism]

That was a great cliffhanger, you bastard.

[Misdirection]

Heh, I forgot about Dash and her mom. Nice chapter, though the constant cliffhangers are agony.

[lrc_languish]

That's strange, you're supposed to put a side story smack dab in the middle of the action... This wont do at all.

[Greenhorn]

I really curious what would Princess Twilight will be when she gain her spiritual power (if it ever will be).

I personally will be disappointed if it turn out to be Quincy power like human Twilight. Because in my opinion, Element of Magic mean you are entitle to understand every schools of magic (Twilight could cast Dark Magic simply by watching Celestia casted it only once). So I predict that her soul (that the Tree of Harmony personally picked) would not be a common soul as well. Probably it could transform into anything that come into contact with. Like, if it come into contact with Shinigami power, her soul could generate Shinigami power as a result. Heck, maybe she can wield all Shinigami/Quincy/Hallow powers if she try.

[Feather Book]

When you said I would be annoyed with you because of what happens to Dash, if you meant her getting awesome new fullbringer powers, then no I'm not annoyed. That was awesome.

If you meant that you were ending it on a cliff hanger, however...

Seriously though, that was a great fight, and I can't wait to see how Rainbow's and Firefly's story continues. I love the dynamics in their interactions.

Now... There's something I have to draw...
(After I finish writing, of course!)

[the other sans]

Firefly slide aside from each punch like
struggling to remember how to breath
The bind you to the thing you’re
pull on you so tight you can’t even breath
As they broken drones exploded, Rainbow Dash
growing tighter around Rainbows body
and fro the inside of her chest armor’s gem
out of nowhere with soe big secret as to why
ever brightening light around where her friend were
I know you're Shikai well, Luna
Luckily her own power was reaching its beak

1. Slid.
2. Breathe.
3. They.
4. Breathe.
5. The.
6. Rainbow's.
7. From.
8. Some.
9. Friends.
10. Your.
11. Peak.

[dusk flame]

So if chrissy has the super regeneration, what's the 4th Espada got? I mean sure, Ulquiorra had way more than just super regen, but still.

[RanmaChaos]

Another great chapter. Thank you.

[Stonehooves]

8488363
You could consider that a Zanpakuto would be analogous to a Cutie Mark- it's a part of the self that still has separate power of its own. To that end, Starlights ability to remove Cutie Marks would be the source of her ability to 'remove' Zanpakuto- and also to be able to swap them or otherwise manipulate them. I'd kinda love to see her swap 2 of the main characters' Zanpakutos (Celestia and Luna, perhaps?) to see those characters have to struggle to figure each other out.

[Follower of Chaos]

Hmm so we get a clear showing of the difference in power between tiers. Celestia's Shikai failed to damage a garganta while Sombra casually cut one in half without even using his main weapon. Makes sense on both the Bleach and MLP fronts really. Chrysalis' regeneration seems even better than Ulquiorra since he specifically couldn't regenerate his organs and she does here.

Not sure I agree Rainbow was the closest to complete fullbring, especially with it being a moral dilemma Applejack, Rarity and even Pinkie seemed closer to it. Hope they get theirs soon. Savage cliffhanger though, wonder what the truth is?

What's this about Chrysalis decieving my girl Luna? A parallel to Nightmare Moon perhaps. The Captain and the Princess of the night have no fear of the likes of you Espada, you are letting Tirek's false praise swell your arrogance. Best be careful not to overlook any potential threats, there might be someone climbing up to knock you off your pedestal even as we speak. Once Grogar's out of the way, Adagio will set her sights on you bitch.

So off to Equestria next chapter I assume, provided Discord doesn't see the portal, stick his head through to see what's up, decide to troll Starlight by going "NOPE" and shutting the portal.

[_CheckMate_]

Once again, Chrysalis continues to be the best villain. I just wonder what her actual released power can do if she can already shapeshift, spawn drones (who eventually become sentient if they live long enough)- which one canon Hollow's entire ability was a weaker version, and can regenerate from nearly anything almost instantaneously. Though it is good to know that her use of Zecora's sword was based on Starlight's ability and not her merely copying her energy and tricking the Zanpakuto into thinking she was the true owner.

Turns out Firefly isn't a complete Starscream; even if we don't know what her reasons for changing sides really are yet. And I agree RD was one of the closest to evolving her Fullbring. She's definitely been using it to test and try new things more than anyone other than Rarity; and combined with being the only one facing a personal crisis/struggle at the moment (since AJ already cleared the air with her mom), and you have the perfect recipe for new anime power-up.

[Komorebi]

I'm hooked. All I gotta say is that I’d kill to see what you could do with Soul Eater.

[Lamplighter]

https://youtu.be/UxgWQZUSKd8?si=6KVWt_70kwGmqsZy